…find the right frequency

Once upon a time, there was a dark, dark stretch of months from the beginning of summer until the first hints of coolness in the fall known as rerun season.

During these periods of new-episode droughts, apart from the occasional special or game show, television fans were forced to survive on previously aired programming. The horror.

Lucky for us all, those days are behind us. Today that treacherous summer drought doesn’t exist for a variety of reasons — Netflix, summer series, etc. — but there’s still something special about that last stretch before the return of shows in the fall.

The past few weeks, fresh off the heels of Comic-Con, the Television Critics Association kicked off its annual Summer TCA Press Tour, which prepared us for just that. #TCA18

The result, a flood of teasers, sneak peeks, and general awesomeness, like this conversation sparking reveal from the folks at “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.”

And as hard as it is, I’m going to just leave that there and wait with bated breath to find out what that will mean for the final season of this marvelous, musical show.

While there are undoubtedly downsides to the access social media grants us, I’d say the insights we now have into the creative process is (for the most part) a good thing.

And while I respect the right of every other fan out there to weigh in on the news, I have to shake my head at the ones who have already decided they’re not going to like it.

Don’t be the grind of the #TCA18. No one is going to want to share their news with the person who’s going to dump on it before they’ve even seen it.

I know for some out there, critiquing those sharing their two cents on announcements made at an event hosted by an association of critics may seem hypocritical, but true criticism (in the professional sense) requires analyzing a finished product. Everyone may be entitled to their own opinion, but please make it an informed one. Rejecting a single choice (of many) in a yet to be filmed season is not creative criticism.

So, while I know it may be difficult, my advice would be to take the advice shared here yesterday, and stay curious, with a touch of patience, while holding onto the joy.